North's outdated guns on border coastline are for 'show,' Defense Ministry says

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense dismissed North Korea’s recent deployment of outdated artillery along its side of the border in the coastal Kaepung County, North Hwanghae, as “a show” on Thursday.

“Deploying artillery where it can be seen […] makes no sense at all, militarily or tactically,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Bin-na said at a regular briefing. “The military, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS], is closely watching [the situation] and maintains a readiness posture to respond firmly to anything.”

As concealment and cover are basic tactics for artillery units, leaving outdated artillery exposed without blast walls or camouflage netting amounts to a display for outside audiences rather than a genuine military threat.

“It would be good to understand this […] as North Korea putting on a show,” JCS spokesperson Jang Do-young said at the same briefing.

North Korea has recently been exposing the 122-millimeter (4.8 inches) artillery on the coastline across from the Aegibong Peace Ecopark observatory in Gimpo, Gyeonggi. A propaganda slogan painted on the front of the guns reads, “Annihilate the U.S. imperialist aggressors, the sworn enemy of the Korean people!” (translated). 

The deployment comes following rising inter-Korean tensions, with Pyongyang having warned that it will reinforce its firepower along the military demarcation line, which is the de facto border between the two Koreas.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]